Thursday, September 8, 2011

Corn on the Cob on the Grill

Earth is here so kind, that just tickle her with a hoe and she laughs with a harvest.
~Douglas William Jerrold, about Australia, A Land of Plenty

Have you ever grilled your corn on the cob? I’ve read about it several times but never tried it. Mainly because I’d read you have to soak them beforehand for a few hours and I never managed to be that organized to get it done. But I love grilling in the summer and today’s the day, the corn in the garden is ready.

Every year I grow my own corn from seed. When I decided to try growing it in my own garden I asked a local, long time gardener what variety she recommended. Without hesitation she said “Bodacious, that’s the only corn I’ll grow”. Local, first hand advice just can’t be beat so I figured why inquire further? Off to the store I went to find a seed packet of Bodacious. I’ve been growing it ever since. The corn is sweet, juicy and the skins are not tough.

I start the seeds indoors in April and am sure to plant them outdoors by June 1. Since there’s only two of us to cook for I grow between 6-8 stalks. Each stalk will generally produce 2 ears. Sometimes you’ll only get one ear, sometimes 3 but usually 2 is the standard.

My normal corn on the cob cooking method is no doubt atrocious to the gourmet cook so I decided this year to read up on it in my Joy of Cooking cookbook. They recommend boiling the shucked ear 2-3 minutes only or grilling in the husk. For grilling they say you don’t necessarily have to soak it and you’ll get a different flavor if you don’t. Nor do you have to shuck them or mess with the silks if you grill it. Wow, how easy can that be…just pick it off the stalk and lay it on the grill.


So that’s what I did…picked two off the stalks and after tearing off just the dried silks at the top (I thought they might burn and smoke) I grilled them for 3-4 min on the med setting, turning it on 4 sides. That equates to 12-16 minutes total. I have to say, I think closer to 10-12 minutes rather than 16 minutes would be perfectly done. I have several more ears to experiment timing with so next time I’ll try it on the low setting. Ours isn’t a sophisticated grill, just the small, portable gas type that’s great for camping and tailgate parties. It only has low, medium, and high heat settings so I don’t know any actual temperatures.

This is a brilliant way to cook fresh corn from the garden. Quick with no dishes to clean and no waiting for a big pot of water to boil! Just snap it off the stalk and lay it on the grill for 12 minutes, turning every 3. Yay!

In bloom in my garden today: Ajuga, Calluna vularis ‘dark beauty’, Caryopteris ‘longwood blue’ (bluebeard), Coreopsis ‘moonbeam’, Cyclamen, Gaillardia (blanket flower), Kniphofia, Nandina, Agastache foeniculum (anise hyssop), Alpine Strawberries, Alyssum, Begonia ‘bonfire’, Borage, Crocosmia ‘george davidson’, Daphne caucasica ‘Eternal Fragrance’ and ‘Summer Ice’, Echinacea, Fuchsia, Geranium ‘mavis simpson’, Gladiolus callianthus (formerly Acidanthera), LavenderLobelia, Mullen chaixii ‘Album’, Nepeta, Oregano, Phygelius ‘new sensation’ (cape fushia), Rose, Salvia, Schizostylis ‘watermelon’, Star Jasmine (trachelospermum jasminoides), Tigridia (Mexican Shell Flower), Tomato, Zucchini


Author’s photo

7 comments:

Shari B. (FitFeat) said...

Hi Joan!

We LOVE corn on the grill - that's about the only way we ever make it if it's still on the cob. We leave the husk on too.

We are hoping to grill out tonight, now that the evenings are more mild and not so blazing hot. No corn on the menu this time, but now I'm wishing I'd picked some up! yours looks delicious!

Joan said...

Hi Shari! I don't know why it took me sooo long to figure this out. It's so amazingly easy this way! How long do you leave yours on the grill? Do you turn it on 4 sides? I'm new at it and looking for your expert advice. Gonna do it again tonight! yay
Cheers!

Cindy said...

this is exactly how we grill our corn (actually it's the ONLY way we cook it)

YUMMY.

I do like to cut the corn off the cob and fire roast it for later dishes too.

but I'll eat corn raw too so don't ask me!

NICELY DONE!

Joan said...

Hi Cindy,
No doubt I am THE only person on the planet who never did this before now! Sooo glad I finally caught up...now I feel so with it! How do you fire roast your cut corn? That sounds wonderful.

Cindy said...

I just take my skillet, a little olive oil and get it hot, than take my un-shucked corn and let it get all fired up.

OR I take the husk off the corn and let the grill make it's mark!

haha
we did our corn last night. THough of you!

Kathy Jones said...

Joan, last year at the Puyallup Fair we had corn that was grilled in the husk; we loved it- so we have done the same this summer with varying success. When we cook it enough I love it! I think I will try Cindy's idea of husking it and having grill marks on it next time.
You, are a beautiful writer and have such precision in your scientific approach to everything you do. You are amazing and I adore you, friend.~ Kathy

Joan said...

Hi Kathy!
I just love the various ways you can enjoy corn. I think on the grill I prefer it at just a few minutes overall. It remains crisp and sweet. And thanks for the compliments. I'm glad you are able to visit.